Another accident waiting to happen?

FINANCIAL CRISIS

Whenever something unexpected occurs, we look for a cause.

For preference, we seek out a single explanation, as this appeals to our desire for a neat cause-and-effect analysis, that provides its own solution; equally importantly, it allows us to identify people (or things) associated with the situation and then to ascribe blame. So, when commentators look back at the financial crisis that precipitated the recession, they look for a cause. For most, the cause seems very simple – bankers behaving badly. In this analysis, it was an explosion in lending, compounded by the use of complex derivative instruments, that led to the crisis. That ther...